People Registered as Deaf or Hard of Hearing - England, Year ending 31 March 2010

Register of Deaf People

• At 31 March 2010, 56,400 people were recorded on the deaf register. The number on the register increased by 1,900 (3%) since March 2007, which is also an increase of 10,900 (24%) since 1995.
• Since March 2007 the number of deaf people on the register has risen in all age groups with the exception of those aged under 18 which fell by 36 per cent from 3,400 in 2007 to 2,200 in 2010. Just under half of this decrease can be attributed to one council who said the drop was due to a review of their collection procedures. The largest increase was in the number of people on the register aged 75 and over, which rose by 8 per cent to 17,400 at March 2010.
• Over half (53%) of people on the deaf register were aged 18-64 which is a 4 percentage point decrease from 57 per cent in March 1995.

Register of Hard of Hearing People

• At 31 March 2010, 156,500 people were on the hard of hearing register. This is a decrease of 8,000 (5%) since March 2007 but an overall increase of 30,600 (24%) from 125,900 since March 1995.
• Since March 2007 the number of people registered as hard of hearing has decreased in all age groups with the exception of those aged 75 over which rose by 1% from 106,900 in 2007 to 107,900 in 2010. The largest decrease was seen in the under 18 age group with a fall of 46% from 4,100 in 2007 to 2,200 in 2010 although one council contributed to over half of this decrease.
• 69 per cent of people on the hard of hearing register were aged 75 or over which is an increase from 61 per cent in March 1995.

Information on Deafblind People

• At 31 March 2008 88,500 people were registered as blind or partially sighted with an additional disability and of these, 25,300 (29%) were recorded as having a hearing impairment as their additional disability.

Please note:The Isles of Scilly have been classed as a Shire Council within this publication, however from the 1st April 2009 the classification of this council within the ONS local government classification changed to a Unitary Authority.